Left Agenda

Ghosts of the KKK/Faux news team.

Insert freaky ghost noises, cue the rattling shutters the 2010 Census is taking place and it’s time to be frightened. Frightened, I say. Oh noes, thay be cowntin us!

Look, it’s a necessary thing. It helps tell us how many people are in what areas so that the proper amount of schools, elected officials, etc. can be given to that area. It takes all of 10 sec. to fill out and it’s completely harmless. That is unless you’re one of the paranoid fuck-heads on the Right or at Faux News. Liz Peek, dumbass extraordinaire, the author of “Confessions of a TARP Wife” (pluck heart strings now) seems to think the end of the world is taking place because of the Census. Her words:

the Obama administration is pushing the Census Bureau to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to reach minority communities that have been “undercounted” in the past. Reporting higher numbers of residents in poor black or Hispanic neighborhoods will attract more federal (needed) funding, and more importantly, will boost the regions’ House seats, which will likely be filled by Democrats. It’s a cozy arrangement.

Catch that?  It’s not that the Obama administration is doing something dark and sneaky, its that they want everyone to be counted that’s supposed to be scary.  Oh noes, all dem poore peoples wil be cownted!  That’s right, she seems to be worrying that the Obama administration wants to be more accurate when it comes to poor neighborhoods so that they are given their fair share of federal funding and elected officials; as she notes those elected officials, “will likely be… Democrats.”  Hmm, the scary part is that more Democrats will be elected by these minority neighborhoods?  Am I missing something here, or is Peek literally saying that she doesn’t want the lower and middle classes to have a vote? I

The Bitch and the Beast

guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise coming from a woman whose sole concern during these economically hard times is fashion:

“God forbid someone catches me out in something new. Keeping up with fashion seems somehow decadent in this new era, like getting Botox injections or catered dinners.”

God forbid, indeed.  Yes, you rich bitch, you should be ashamed at your and your husband’s business operations and the upper class rape of Americans.  Though you’ve blamed your husband and others for messing up the economy, you’re lying to think that you weren’t fully aware and partially to blame for the mess.

When are the RWs and Republicans going to wake up to the bullshit scare tactics of the rich and wealthy of the nation?  When are they going to see that living standards for middle America have dropped significantly while these punks have accumulated more and more wealth.  Do you think they EARNED this money?

Politicians lie.  We’ve all known that since we the moment we grew up and became adults, or sooner for some of you that gain wisdom early.  Lying comes in many forms.  There’s simply withholding the truth, or maybe not correcting other people’s lies.  There’s giving half-truths so what you’re saying is mostly true.  Then there’s a complete unequivocal lie whereby someone states one thing with the full knowledge that the opposite is true.

Filtering through these different types of lies is exactly what you have to do when listening to almost any rhetoric be it originating from the media, politicians, our acquaintances… More and more I’m coming to the conclusion that people that support the GOP (along with fundamentalist Christians) have no idea how to distinguish between these types of lying.  This is a failure in critical thinking skills.  Once a person believes that so-and-so tells the truth, they no longer try to distinguish between when they’re telling the whole truth or half-truths.  They no longer question if the person would ever lie.  It just simply isn’t done.  It’s my theory that GOP supporters, Tea Baggers, and Fundies are all part of this group of people that have little to know critical thinking skills.

Now, with that in mind the GOP continues to abuse their constituents low critical thinking skills by lying and fear-mongering.  Case in point:

1) Dems should be afraid of losing their majority in 2010 because it’s almost certainly going to happen.  How do we know, because there are so many Dems retiring.

2) The failure of TSA and Homeland Security and Obama is that no one is saying “terrorism” enough.  We need to say “terrorism” as often as possible in order to remind everyone that we are at war with “terrorists.”  America is at war with drugs communism Iraq Afghanistan Terror.

First off, the Dems losing seats and thereby their majority may happen.  There’s an election, who knows what the results will be.  You could argue that the majority isn’t even important considering how well the Dems have used it up to now.  What you can’t argue, legitimately, is that the Dems have more to fear than the Reps when it comes to losing seats because the numbers don’t even suggest that.  If anything they suggest the exact opposite.  Polls show that Dems are more in favor than the Reps; both have low scores but Reps’ tend to score a good ten points or more lower.  Also, there’s more Reps Representatives and Senators retiring than there are Dems.  I know Faux viewers are pulling their hair out by now because this simply can’t be true; Glenn Beck never mentioned this!  No, of course not.  He’s off ranting about how African-American is a bullshit term for… what?  Black, Negro, Afro-American,… or would Beck prefer Nigger?

Democrats	FAV	UNFAV	NO OPINION
ALL	42	54	4
MEN	33	63	4
WOMEN	51	45	4
DEM	75	22	3
REP	5	94	1
IND	36	62	2
OTHER	32	64	4
NON VOTE	42	46	12
WHITE	33	65	2
BLACK	79	12	9
LATINO	51	40	9
OTH/REF	51	39	10
18-29	59	33	8
30-44	28	66	6
45-59	49	50	1
60+	40	58	2
NORTHEAST	61	29	10
SOUTH	24	72	4
MIDWEST	45	53	2
WEST	44	55	1

Republicans

	FAV	UNFAV	NO OPINION
ALL	29	61	10
MEN	39	51	10
WOMEN	19	71	10
DEM	9	87	4
REP	84	4	12
IND	19	69	12
OTHER	21	68	11
NON VOTE	11	73	16
WHITE	37	53	10
BLACK	6	88	6
LATINO	12	74	14
OTH/REF	11	75	14
18-29	10	84	6
30-44	47	41	12
45-59	23	69	8
60+	26	61	13
NORTHEAST	10	83	7
SOUTH	58	30	12
MIDWEST	19	71	10
WEST	20	70                     10

These figures are taken from Research 2000.

Second, WTF does using the word “terrorism” have to do with keeping the country safe?  Let’s just skip over that fact that Obama and his appointees have been using the term over and over again for months.  But, in what way would it benefit the American people, how would it help keep us safer, if Obama said the word “terrorism” more?  Of course, it couldn’t be the GOP or Dickhead Cheney’s repeated international statements saying that America is weak that would instigate an attack, would it?  No, it wouldn’t be the continued use of Holy Warriors trying to convert Afghanistan and Iraq people to Christianity, would it?  It wouldn’t be that America has killed thousands of innocent civilians and tortured thousands more and many Americans support these actions that would create animosity towards America, would it?  Nah, it’s because Obama doesn’t say the word “terrorism” enough.  Got it?

What’s sad is how many people believe this crap spewing from Faux News and the GOP.  Let me set the record straight, whether you call yourself Conservative, Libertarian, Republican, etc. you’re either a complete idiot for believing their drivel, you’re one of the people lying for your own benefit, or you’re a complete asshole that believes the American Dream is to care only about yourself and never about anyone else.  I’m betting it’s one of the first two.

Fox News: Fair and Balanced Corruption

Faux News never ceases to amaze me. Their incessant fear-mongering and asinine logic frequently befuddled even the most acrobatic mind. What surprises me even more is their fans. I’m guessing that the majority of their fans, their viewers, are lower or middle class American citizens. That’s an assumption and if anyone has evidence to refute that, I’d love to see it. Now, while these fans and viewers have supported the exorbitant rise in pay to America’s richest 1% simply because they worked for it and they deserve it, they are still watching Faux News whom is now making the case that minimum wage should be dropped!

Minimum wage is a pittance. It’s nothing. If you work full time for a year making minimum wage, it wouldn’t equal what Goldman Sach’s executives make in a single day. Is there anyone that would seriously argue that a year’s worth of work isn’t worth the same amount as a single day’s?

They completely ignore any of the myriad of reasons for keeping the minimum wage, or those arguments that say raising the minimum wage would benefit the economy and side-step it by calling it D.C.’s “sacred cow.” Have so many lower and middle class Americans completely forgotten the decades of fighting that the Labor movement went through to get Americans a forty hour work week? Or the weekend? Or mandatory holidays? Or sick leave? Or maternal leave? Or anything that benefits the working class instead of the rich executives? How fucking stupid are you Fox News watchers?!

No, don’t bother answering.  It’s a rhetorical question.

Most people remember the movie, Hotel Rwanda.  If you haven’t seen it yet, go get it.  It’s incredible.  This article isn’t about the movie though.  It’s about the future of Faux News and commentators like Glenn Beck.  In 1994 there was a massive genocidal movement against “Rwanda’s Tutsis and Hutu political moderates by the Hutudominated government under the Hutu Power ideology.”  Thousands of people were killed.

Images of genocide.

Only a fraction of the deaths.

There have been convictions for these crimes, and those convictions are continuing to this day.  A recent conviction involved someone that was present on the air-waves.  They weren’t in the street killing people, they were inciting people to do it.

Valerie Bemeriki, a radio journalist, admitted to inciting these murders.  Even if she didn’t admit to it, it was clearly recognizable when she said on the air,

“Do not kill those cockroaches with a bullet -- cut them to pieces with a machete.”

Finally, this woman will be incarcerated and serve time for her crimes against humanity.

Faux News and Glenn Beck have a similar future.  It only takes a few minutes going through the comments of Faux News zombies to find a myriad of violent and death related respondents.  From every action by the Democrats or the Left which is perceived with mass-hysteria and in their confusion of reality and facts vs. faith and tradition appears a distinguishing trend; many of them are perfectly willing to resort to violence and massacre to support their ignorant and ill-founded ideology.

Americans killing Americans.  And who’s inciting this kind of behavior?

Is he saying to kill people, yet?  Nope, but I think his followers are getting the idea.

Glenn Beck is just the most visible of these hate-mongers and violence inciters.  There are many others.

WAIT TILL THE END; they give plenty of examples of conservative talk radio hosts inciting hatred and violence.  And then they mention Rwanda…

The list of hate-mongers is long: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, Pat Robertson, etc., etc.

So, Jesus is a toy? Oh, that's so much better!

The White House is a government building, right?  It is a part of the United States and not a part of the vast talking-head, gospel of prosperity Evangelical church, right?  It’s not religious in any way, right?  Well, of course not but that doesn’t mean that religious activities don’t happen there.

The supposed taking place of religious activities isn’t what’s at issue, but the seemingly misunderstood dictation of what must take place.  The only thing that must take place, given that it’s a government building, is that equality is presented.  If religious spectacles are to be shown than equally religious spectacles should be shown as well, along with other belief or lack of belief systems.  I don’t know how many that is, but it seems like it would take up another building entirely to have a holiday scene for each religion that in any way celebrates something that takes place over the winter.

Now, while celebrating Christmas is of course rooted in the Christian church’s theft/appropriation of  paganism and its observances it only seems natural that those same observances would continue to be reappropriated at a later date, which they has.  Now!  I celebrated Christmas as a child and I know many people that do too but with absolutely no connection whatsoever that in anyway celebrates some little fake baby being born by an unwed mother.  Nothing about Christmas is about Christ.  While that rattles in your brain for a while let’s move onto the point.

Why in the world is someone getting upset about the prospect of the White House not putting up it’s “traditional” nativity scene with little Jesus, all the hay, and some little tart next to him?  Why is that important?

Renowned children’s book author and Faux News’ own “cultural” analyst, Eric Metaxas seems to be shitting a brick about the idea/rumor/possibility that the WH won’t have its “traditional” nativity scene.  Children’s books aren’t the only thing that Metaxas has published.  Aside from those, he’s been published in a myriad of magazines and recently published Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but were afraid to ask) and the sequel, Everything ELSE You Always Wanted to Know About God (but were afraid to ask). I suppose that when he said “Everything” it meant only what would fit into the first book.  So, it’s nice to see that Metaxas has such a close relationship with his imaginary friend that apparantly god/dog doesn’t mind him giving out all of his secrets.  Kind of like a ‘enquiring minds want to know’ kind of thing.

Pictured with America's beloved bigot, Rick Warren. Ahhh, Christmas and killing homosexuals go together so well, huh Warren?

So, off the deep end he’s gone (or maybe he’s been there for awhile) and now he’s ranting about a little minuscule nativity scene that may or may not get put up in the WH.  The part that speaks volumes is the title, “Jesus Nearly Banned at White House Inn”.  Uh, did he say, “Banned?”  And what-the-fuck “Inn” is he talking about?

Also speaking volumes; straight from the Horse Ass’ mouth:

I was reading the New York Times Sunday Styles section yesterday (yep, I’m straight) when I came across an article about embattled White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers — she’s the one who broke with previous White House tradition by inviting herself to the state dinner when she should have been at the door keeping out the loopy riff-raff.

But in the twelfth paragraph of the article there was a real bombshell: It said that earlier this year at a luncheon with other previous White House social secretaries, Ms. Rogers claimed that this year the White House would have a “non-religious” Christmas celebration. (For those of you confused by that, it’s just like a “non-religious” Yom Kippur celebration, or a “non-Irish” St. Patrick’s Day celebration, or an “international” July 4th celebration.)

First, let me be the first to point out the incredibly unsubtle bigotry and stereotyping of homosexuals.  Secondly, does Metaxas protest too much?  Third, what really seems to be getting Metaxas’ girdle in a bunch is the “non-religious” part of WH Social Secretary Desiree Rogers’ words.  Then, by setting up a few false comparisons he’s able to deftly move into how by “non-religious” the WH is specifically targeting Christianity and American tradition.  Hmm…

A quick word on tradition.  If the only reason you have for doing something which others are calling to end is to say that it is “tradition” then you’ve already lost the argument.  ”Tradition” is what keeps minorities from having the same rights, women from having equal pay, bigotry in power, and majority rule a continuous policy.  Tradition is bullshit, usually.  If tradition is all you’ve got for a defense, then you’re lying about your true motivation.

I hope Metaxas has a nice Christmas this year.  I will, but without the tree or any other Pagan attributes.  I think I’ll eat a lot of food, drink a lot of alcohol, and maybe watch Religulous.